The present invention relates to an apparatus for cooking foods, in particular pasta, dehydrated vegetables or the like, and more particularly to such an apparatus which includes a hot water generator, a cooking chamber connected with the hot water generator, a food inlet entering the cooking chamber and a separating chamber following the cooking chamber through an outlet.
In restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, or when serving hot food in automats, it is of special importance to have the food available as rapidly as possible and without the time requirements of a conventional cooking process. This is true, for example, for the preparation of food items, such as pasta, in particular spaghetti, rice, dehydrated vegetables and the like. From DE-OS No. 22 47 071 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,135 (essentially corresponding to DE-OS No. 22 47 071), an installation of this type is known whereby the aforementioned foods are cooked with pressurized water in a short period of time. The maintenance of excess pressure on the water in this known installation leads to an acceleration of the cooking process and prevents the water from passing into steam, so that the food remains completely covered with water during cooking. This is necessary in order to obtain a controlled, uniform cooking of the food items.
In the known apparatus, the hot water generator, the cooking chamber and the separating chamber are separate units which are arranged adjacent to each other and are interconnected by conduits. This requires a substantial volume of space. The separating chamber, which is in the form of a vortex chamber, is located laterally with respect to the cooking chamber. The transport of the food from the cooking chamber to the separating chamber is effected merely by the pressure impact resulting from the opening of a valve located between the cooking chamber and the separating chamber following a cooking process. It is therefore possible that food remains in the cooking chamber or the connecting line. The steam generated by the pressure drop caused by the opening of the cooking chamber is released to the environment.
As with the hot water generator, the cooking chamber and the separating chamber are arranged separately, and the steam generated is discharged from the separating chamber to the environment. Thus, there is a considerable loss of energy and the apparatus has high energy, requirements. The heat requirement aspect is especially important when the apparatus is used at large time intervals only and is permitted to cool down completely in the meantime.